Downtown relief line would have made difference Wednesday morning: TTC CEO

A downtown reliefline would have come in handy Wednesdaymorning when subway service in Toronto was suspendedon a stretchof the Bloor-Danforthsubway also known asLine 2 for three hours, the CEO of the Toronto Transit Commission says.

"It's not just a relief line,it'san alternative line," Andy Byford told reporters on Wednesday at the TTC Greenwood Yard.

Byford was speaking at an afternoon news conference announcing $150 million in provincial funding for design work onthe downtown relief subway line. Mayor John Tory and Ontario Transportation Minister Steven Del Ducawerealsoonhand to speakto reporters.

"Goodness knows, we could have done with that this morning when we had all those problems on Line 2, Byford said.Had we had that this morning, we would have diverted people onto the alternative line.

"Here, everything is binary. If you have Line 1 or Line 2 godown, pretty much you onlyhave one option shuttle buses."

Subway service resumed on Line 2after a damaged feeder cable caused a three-hourservice suspensionbetween St. George andPapestations early Wednesday morning.

The rush-hour commutingnightmare began around 5:15 a.m., when TTC crews working under Yongestationheard a loud bang, followed by smoke fillingup the tunnel.

A small fire damaged a wood cover that runs over the third rail, and a feeder cable sustained what TTC spokesperson Brad Ross called "major damage."

More than 18 metres oftheheavy-duty cable had to be repaired, saidTTC CEO AndyByford, and crews also had tocheck the switches and signals to ensure nothing else was damaged before service could resume.

When the fire first broke out, trains running on the north-south Line 1 had tobypass Yongestation, but quickly resumed normal service.

The stoppage led to a frustrating commute, withlong lines of riders waiting for shuttle buses. At the peak of the stoppage, 90 shuttle buses were operating between St. George and Pape.

"I will always instruct that we suspend service andget the fireservice in rather than put customer safety at risk," Byford said of the decision to stop trains.

"At the end of the day, inconvenient though it is, we are getting people from A to B."

West-end passengers who neededto get downtown were able totravel byGO or UP Express with TTC fare.West-end travellers couldstart their journey at the Kipling GO station, while east-end travellers were able touse theDanforth or Kennedy GO stations.

Ross had warned of longer than typical wait times on the west end of line 2 because the stoppage hadtrains "trapped" in the Greenwood yard, which is east of Yonge.

Now that the cable is repaired and service has resumed, the TTC will investigate what caused the cable to degrade and begin smoking, Byford told reporters at Yonge station.

"Something will have set that off," he said.

Meanwhile, paramedics were called to treat two TTC workers for smoke inhalation. They were treated at the scene, and did not need tobe transported to hospital.